The Greatest Treasure
by TheRealSokka
Summary: After the battle, Rayla finds something at the foot of the Stormspire.


The battle was over.

As she walked through the torn up earth at the foot of the Stormspire, Rayla still found it hard to believe. To think that there was no longer an army of monsters at their back; no insurmountable obstacles to overcome. The human army was apprehended, the evil mage that had led them here was dead and, most importantly, little Zym was finally back with his mother where he belonged.

They had done it.

And they had all survived to tell of it.

It was a strange feeling. Though she never voiced it, a part of Rayla had always just expected that she'd give her life for her quest along the way. Maybe even since she had set out from Xadia with Runaan, that expectation had been at the back of her mind; something she just accepted without thinking too much about, because that would only take her focus away from what needed to be done. She had concentrated all her energy on her goal: avenge the Dragon King; protect the egg; protect the humans that against all logic were seeing her as a friend; get the young dragonling safely back to his home; defend him and everyone she cared about (when had they become so many?) from the monsters at their doorstep. Give her life for it if necessary.

Now her goal was accomplished and she was still here. And suddenly she was unsure what to do now.

"You find anything?" a voice rang out across the sunlit battlefield, taking Rayla out of her thoughts. It was Soren; combing the ground about a dozen yards to her left, looking over at her expectantly.

"Nothing." she called back truthfully. She felt slightly bad that she had allowed herself to become distracted by the abrupt end of her journey, when Soren hadn't quite reached his yet. _Focus_.

Soren nodded and continued his search, with the same mix of hesitance and determination that he had shown from the start. Rayla gave a quiet sigh and resumed searching the ground in front of her. This was the spot where his father fell. And though he'd been a bad man, Rayla could understand why her friend was so insistent, yet so reluctant to see it. _Closure_.

Thought, despite her and all her friends helping him look, they still hadn't found a body. Rayla didn't know why that fact made her feel so uneasy. She would just feel a lot safer if she knew for certain that no one could harm Zym anymore.

A rush of air swirled up dust around her. Rayla shielded her eyes and looked up, just as Callum landed next to her. His wings folded themselves neatly down on his arms. His face was red with excitement, but he sent her a nonchalant smile. "Hey."

"Hey." She raised a critical eyebrow, an effect that was probably slightly dampened by the fond smile that stole on her face. "You're having way too much fun with those, aren't you?"

Callum grinned and jumped up, beating his newly plumed arms so that he stayed in the air for a good heartbeat before plopping back down. His face held a look of wonder. "I mean – wouldn't you?"

"Dork." she complained, turning away to hide the radiant smile that threatened to break out on her face. It was embarrassing how easily he could cause that just by being near her. His being so comically endeared by his new skill didn't help at all. But Rayla wouldn't complain about it. After all, those wings had saved her life.

No; _Callum_ had saved her life. He'd jumped from the tip of the Stormspire not knowing if he could even make the spell work; knowing that all other humans and even most Skywing elves couldn't. For all he knew, he had jumped to his death – for her. That had nothing to do with the magic he possessed and everything to do with him being Callum. And while a part of Rayla wanted to hit him for his stupidity, a much larger part wanted to kiss him. That part won out.

"Mmph!" Callum voiced as her lips connected to his. Rayla felt his body tense with surprise. She quickly put her arms around his neck before he could even think about pulling away and held him close; trying to make that say everything she couldn't put into words. Maybe he got the message, because after a second his shoulders relaxed and he kissed her back. Rayla sighed and pressed a little, impossibly, closer. She could do that now, and she would probably never quite get used to it. She smiled against his lips.

When they separated, a slight pink blush dusted Callum's cheek. There was a bright smile on his face, alight with mirth, but his eyes held a kind of wonder when he looked at her; the same kind of wonder like when he had realized he could fly, and it made Rayla's heart flutter. "What – what was that for?"

She gave a shrug, trying to seem nonchalant. "Do I need a reason?"

His blush deepened. "I guess not. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Soo – I could kiss you for no reason as well, if I wanted to? Hypothetically speaking."

"You won't know until you try."

Callum's lips were still cold from his flight. Rayla didn't mind one bit. They tasted like _sky_ and something else that was just Callum, and not like she had imagined. Not that she had thought about it a great deal, of course.

But if, hypothetically, she had worried a bit about how kissing him would turn out, then it was so much easier than she would have thought. It felt as natural as talking with him or calling him an idiot. Fondly. She was still amazed by how at home she felt with Callum's more-than-friendly touches – even though the word _loving_ made her want to jump up and down with happiness every time she so much as thought it.

Necessity to breathe pulled them apart after a while. Callum laughed softly, breathlessly, against her cheek. "We should stop. What will the others think?"

Rayla smirked. "Jealous that you're my human and not theirs? Let them. I saw you first."

She loved making that blush appear on his cheeks. "You're not half bad yourself."

"Charmer."

They resumed walking, managing to look at something other than each other for more than a few seconds at a time, a feat of which Rayla was quite proud. She had to remind herself that there was a reason they were down here. So, evidently, had Callum. His expression slowly turned more serious as he cast his eyes over the ground.

"Have you found any sign of him?"

"Not yet. I'm sure this is where he fell."

"Well, it is a very long fall. Maybe he…" Callum gestured vaguely, looking uneasy. "You know."

"Splattered?"

"Yeah."

"Hm." Rayla glanced over to where Soren was searching. For his sake, she hoped that was not what had happened to the mage, or if it had, that Soren wouldn't be the one to find him.

The sun had risen high into the sky and still their search yielded no results. Rayla's uneasy feeling grew. She told herself that it was just the torn battlefield reminding her of the sand of the Midnight Desert; just her wariness of the soul serpents that haunted it and would likely haunt her nightmares as well. There was no way anyone could have survived this fall and walked away, and for Soren's father there had been no Callum to catch him.

That was when Callum suddenly called, "Hey, I've got something!"

Rayla darted over to where he was kneeling by a small boulder. There was no body in sight, so at first she didn't understand what Callum was talking about. Then he reached for something half lying under the rock and straightened up, holding the item out to her.

It was a plain leather pouch, slightly smaller than his palm.

Something cold grew in Rayla's chest, sank and settled heavy in her stomach. She stared at the small, innocent looking object. Heard the mage's voice in her head, taunting her. _One more Moonshadow elf to add to my collection…_

Callum shook the pouch, tilting his head curiously as it jangled. "A coin purse." he stated. "Human made. You think this belonged to…"

"Give it to me." Rayla said hoarsely. She reached out for the purse, then withdrew her hand quickly like it had been burned. She wanted to – she _needed_ to know what was inside that thing. And at the same time she was terrified of what she might find.

Something of it must have shown on her face. Callum's expression slowly morphed from curiosity to concern. "Rayla?"

"Please! This was Viren's. He…" Her voice broke before she could finish. She reached out a second time. Wishing he wouldn't ask any more questions, because she didn't have any answers and she wasn't sure if she really wanted to find them. But she had to. "I have to see." she whispered.

The look Calum gave her might have lasted a minute or a heartbeat; Rayla couldn't tell. Then, wordlessly, he stepped closer and handed her the pouch. His other hand found hers and squeezed tight.

Rayla took a deep breath. With trembling fingers, she undid the knot and upended the purse over her open palm.

A handful of shimmering gold coins spilled out.

At first glance, they looked like nothing remarkable. Rayla turned one between her fingers, her eyes straining so hard to see something in the shining metal that it was a wonder they didn't burn a hole into it. For an agonizing second, she was just looking at an ordinary coin.

Then, as if waking up from a slumber, the surface began to change. Little by little, a face started to take shape. High cheek bones with purple skin. Long, pointed ears. A chin carved to hold a determined frown or, as Rayla had sometimes come to know it, a fond little smile. The eyes that always used to be calm and steady like the eye of a storm; now opened wide and holding a look of pure terror.

"Runaan…" she whispered, tears filling her eyes. Beside her, she heard Callum give a sharp inhale.

Slowly, her heart numb, Rayla turned over the other coins. From every one, one of her former companions stared back at her, unseeing. They all wore the same expression, as if looking at something unspeakably terrifying.

"Dark magic." Callum said quietly. "He- he trapped their souls in the coins."

His arm snuck over Rayla's shoulder, pulling her against him. His warmth did nothing to melt the block of solid ice that seemed to have formed in her chest, but at least it kept it from growing further and encompassing her entire body, and Rayla leaned into the touch. Without something steady to hold onto, she felt like she might break apart right there on the spot. The last two coins stared at her dull and unpolished, their shine faded like an ancient mirror. With the most careful of touches, she swiped her fingers over the matt surface.

After a moment, at first blurred and unfocused, two more faces appeared. Rayla stared at the wide sets of eyes; the same colours as hers. At the faces she could only barely remember from her childhood. They held the now familiar defiance, giving way to fear. Rayla felt something sting at the corners of her eyes. She couldn't hold back the sob that spilled from her lips.

"Mom." she said. "Dad."

Her parents couldn't hear her. They looked out at her with horror and fear, their hands outstretched defensively, eternally caught in the moment when Viren had ripped the souls from their bodies.

In a heartbeat, Rayla's despair gave way to rage. She pushed away from her friend and stormed a few steps in a random direction, searching the horizon, wishing to see the mage appear from somewhere. Of course he didn't. He was already dead and had never paid enough for what he had done. A frustrated scream tore from her chest and she punched the closest boulder, instead. It hurt, but in that moment Rayla welcomed it.

"Rayla…"

The pain cleared her mind. Rayla spun around to Callum so forcefully that he flinched. For a second she thought she saw a touch of fear in his eyes when he looked at her. At any other time, that thought would have stopped Rayla dead in her tracks, but now it barely even registered. "There must be a way to free them." she said.

"Uhm…" Callum took a step back and scratched his head. "Maybe. It could be possible…"

"It _is_!" Rayla insisted. She stalked over to him and pressed one of the coins into his hand. "Viren used dark magic. Maybe you can use it to reverse the spell."

His eyes widened. He shook his head. "No! I- I don't think I can do dark magic anymore. And even if I could; I don't know the spell for this. I could end up making it worse."

"Worse than this?!" Rayla demanded angrily. She held up Runaan's coin, forcing Callum to look at the frightened face trapped in the surface. Why was he acting like this? "You have to try!"

"Rayla, I really don't think that's a good idea."

She stared at him incredulously. A bitter little noise escaped he throat. "Fine. If you won't help; someone will!" She turned away and stormed off.

She had barely crossed half the distance back to the Stormspire when she heard footsteps behind her and whipped around once more. "Don't!" she warned him, the word coming out more like the hiss of a soulfang than elven speech. Even to her ears it sounded harsh. And it did its job of freezing her friend in place. When Rayla reached the foot of the steps and looked over her shoulder, he was still standing there where she had left him, looking after her.

* * *

No one knew how to help.

Rayla asked every magic user left in the Stormspire. Ibis could only stare at the coins aghast, muttering something about 'truly evil. The look he gave her was unbearably pitiful. "I'm sorry, Rayla, I have never heard of this kind of magic. But once the soul leaves the body, it is dead, or at worst a pale mirage of what used to be. Nothing can restore it." The Skywing elf hesitated for a moment and then patted her shoulder clumsily, evidently uncomfortable. "You're parents died honourably; and this is not them. This image in the coin is just their mirage."

"They are not dead!" Rayla protested. She had spent years believing that they were. She had thought Runaan had died as well when she left him. Now there was suddenly hope again, beating powerfully in her chest, and she couldn't just let it go. She couldn't have found this coin purse for no reason.

The Dragon Queen Zubeia was more empathetic, but she couldn't offer a solution, either. When Rayla showed her the coins holding her parents, she bowed her great head in grief. "Young Rayla, your parents are the reason my child is still alive. I honour their sacrifice and mourn their passing. I wish I could give you hope, but you must know that the soul is a complicated thing; not easily understood and almost impossible to restore once it's gone."

"But it is possible?" Rayla asked breathlessly, her hopes rising despite the dragon's cautionary words.

Zubeia shook her head. "A great elven mage once attempted it. Against all caution, he tried to bring back the soul of a lost loved one, and he succeeded. Though afterwards perhaps he wished he didn't. I wasn't there to witness it, but the elves told me that the beloved's was a half-life. It's said that they begged him to let them go, to have peace, but he refused until it was too late."

Rayla felt a shiver run down her spine. "But my parents aren't truly gone." she whispered. "They are right here… Not dead; just trapped! There has to be a way!"

The queen's old, wise eyes blinked at her. "Perhaps there is. But all the great mages are gone now. If there is a way to undo what has been done, only the dark mage who did this to them would know it."

A wave of despair washed over Rayla at her words. She shook her head, turning away. "He is dead."

Her attempts after that lost heart. The dragon queen was the oldest creature she had met, and if she didn't know a way, it was unlikely that anyone else would. Rayla refused to just give up, of course; she kept asking, but now there was a hollow space inside her that just grew with every expectedly predictable conversation and every pair of apologetic, pitying eyes. She couldn't even feel angry about it anymore. At some point, she even asked Janai, though the elven general by her own admission knew next to nothing about magic.

Sunset was upon the Stormspire when Rayla made her way up to the pinnacle and just sat down on the edge, the very spot where she and Viren had fallen. She clutched the coin purse to her chest, afraid that if she didn't, she might throw it into the abyss instead. On the horizon, the sun was dipping beneath the clouds, casting them into a deep crimson. The tip of the mountain seemed an island in an endless red sea.

"It's beautiful." she told Runaan's coin. Her mentor had often spoken about the beauty of the Stormspire whenever her younger self had excitedly pestered him about the place her parents were guarding. Since her earliest memories, Rayla had wanted to see it. Now she was here, under entirely different circumstances than she had envisioned.

She laid Runaan and the others down beside her, a safe distance away from the edge. Maybe the elves could feel some of the warmth of the sunlight in their prison, even though they couldn't see it. Rayla knew she was fooling herself, but she didn't know what else to do.

A high chirp from behind her made her turn her head. It was Zym. The little dragonling had cocked its head and looked at her with an expression that was far too understanding for a barely a year old little dragon, even if he was the future king of the dragons. Somehow, Zym seemed to know what was going on inside of her. He lowered his head and gave a sad little whine.

Rayla sighed and patted the space beside her. "Come on, wee little one. I won't bite. At least not you."

Zym laid his head in her lap and looked up at her with his young, curious eyes that somehow seemed as old and wise as his mother's.

Rayla gave a small smile and stroked his back absentmindedly. "Maybe you can make any of this make sense, huh?" she asked. Zym gave a purr that was neither confirmation nor denial. He licked her fingers, causing static to crackle across her skin.

"They're re-establishing the dragon guard." she told him. "And I'm supposed to be its first member, since I did such a good job protecting you." She scoffed sarcastically. "Don't know if I agree with that, but it is a great honour. What do you say, hm? Would you want me around a bit longer?"

"Yes." a voice said behind her.

She turned around. Callum was standing a few feet away with his hands tucked behind his back, his wings nowhere in sight. He must have walked up here, she thought. He shuffled his feet nervously. "Hey."

"Hey." Rayla replied. She searched inside her for that anger that she had felt for him earlier, but couldn't find it. "What are you doing up here?"

"Looking for you." He made to take a step towards her, then retracted it. "Can I sit?"

Rayla nodded, scooting over a bit to make space. Callum sat down next to her, dangling his feet over the edge. She could feel him looking at her, but she stared stubbornly ahead at the sunset. Silence settled over them and she wouldn't be the one to break it. If she did, she felt like something inside her might break and she didn't know how much would come rushing out then.

After a while, Callum cleared his throat. "I'm sorry."

She made an indefinable noise of acknowledgement.

"You know, I would try using dark magic if you asked me to."

Rayla turned and met his eyes. "Then why didn't you say that, earlier?"

"Cause you were…" He broke off and started again: "I didn't think it could work and I didn't want you to get fixated on that path. I still don't."

She remembered the almost scared look on his face when she had turned on him. She had probably looked half mad. Her shoulders slumped. "Everyone's told me the same as you: my parents, Runaan and my friends are trapped in these coins for good. There's no way to undo the spell. And yet I'm still thinking there has to be one." She gave a hollow little laugh. "Do you think I'm chasing ghosts?"

"No, I don't. No more than Ethari was when he broke the spell to talk with you." Callum laid his hand on top of hers, his fingers tracing light circles into her skin. "You're Rayla, and that means you're stubborn. If everyone told you something's impossible and you _wouldn't_ try to prove them wrong, _then_ I would start to worry."

Why did he always have to be so – Callum?! It made it impossible to be cross with him, even if she had wanted to. Rayla sighed at his feather-light touches and turned up her hand, letting his fingers slip into hers. The gesture had quickly become familiar, like a glove she slipped on and it fit perfectly. It was comforting. She squeezed his hand, hoping that told him how much his reassurance meant to her. "Thank you for saying that."

"Always." he said with that annoying, beautiful honesty.

"I'm sorry for storming off like that. I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"You don't have to apologize. It's your parents; trust me, I get it. If there was a chance to bring my father and mother back, I would do the same."

Subconsciously, they must have scooted closer together, because now their shoulders were touching. Rayla leaned into his. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to pull away, either.

She looked out over the cloudy sea below them once more. "Janai wondered if simply breaking the coins would free them. Like from a prison." she said.

"I'm not sure it works like that."

"No." Rayla took up a coin and spun it between her fingers. Her mother's face looked back at her, mouth open in a silent scream. Her heart gave a painful twinge. "But maybe I should do it anyway. Break them."

"What?" She felt him pull away a bit to look at her. "Why do you say that?"

"Look at them, Callum. They're in pain. If there is no way to help them, then I'm just keeping them for my own sake, aren't I? I'm forcing them to stay in that moment forever. That's cruel and selfish, and…"

"Rayla." Callum cut her off. He cupped her chin, insistently turning her head around to face him. His face was coloured a shining red by the sunset. The look in his eyes was impossibly warm. "You're not cruel and you're not selfish, okay? And you're definitely not someone who gives up." He gave a tiny smile. "That's what I love about you. You never give up."

Rayla leaned into his touch, stifling the sob that threatened to escape her in his shoulder. "I asked everyone; even the dragon queen." she muttered. "They all say it can't be reversed. Only Viren would know how, and he's gone."

"We'll find a way. Hey, we always do, don't we? I promise you we will."

She pulled away and looked up at him. "You can't promise me that, Callum. No one can. Please, don't do that."

"You're right. I'm sorry." Callum reached out and cupped her cheek in his palm, gently wiping away a tear that streaked down towards her chin. "But I'm saying I'm optimistic. And, Rayla, you're the strongest person I know. If anyone can do it, it's you."

"And if I can't?" she asked in a small voice.

"Then I'll still be here for you. And Ezran, and Zym. No matter what, you'll always have us to help you. You know that, right?"

She did. Somehow, the three of them had become her family over the course of their journey. Despite her resolve to not let people get close after what happened to her parents, somehow they had snuck into her heart and now she would do anything for them. Deep down, she knew that they would do the same for her, but hearing Callum say it meant so much. There was this part of her always expected to be abandoned again; a part that made her afraid to be happy because it would only be taken away from her again – but in his presence that part shrunk down to nothing, until she forgot it was there. Rayla didn't know when this had happened; when Callum had started to conjure this warm, cosy feeling inside of her that made her feel so safe and sure. Like a voice telling her everything was going to be alright. Even now.

She hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I love you." She had never in her life meant anything more.

His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer. She could feel the heat of his cheek when he whispered, "I love you, too." into her ear.

Zym snuggled into her elbow, asking to be included in the hug and Rayla granted him access with a small laugh. For that moment, she forgot about everything beyond the human and the dragon in her arms and allowed herself to just feel.

They would make it through this. They always did.

* * *

**When did this show become so good? I didn't think it was possible to match AtLA when it comes to my love for one show, but The Dragon Prince is getting there. After this season, there's so much I want to write about! If you enjoy the show as much as I do, leave me a comment, cause I'm eager to keep writing.**


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